Thursday, June 2, 2011

Gosh, I haven't posted since Sunday! That's what fostering a kitty and art journaling simultaneously will do to you. I will continue this post a little later, but wanted to get this going -- I took a picture of the kitty last night (we think her name is Little Buttercup now but she hasn't confirmed it) and wound up texturing it -- first time I've textured a portrait (as you know, I usually do flowers . . . ).

Anyway, I'll be back in a bit to tell you more about Buttercup and show some more journal pages. Just wanted to link up to TT --

[Later] Back again -- I needed to sneak out to the store while she was asleep. She is the most playful kitten, climbing and leaping and doing somersaults and chasing her little mousie around the living room -- oh, and making sneak attacks on our 25-lb black cat (the previously blogged about October) . . . who runs away from her. First time we've ever seen him run.So, my daughter and I are volunteers at the local animal shelter. For a while we went every week, with the job of taking dogs out and playing with them -- a tough gig, but someone's got to do it. Then it just got to be too much (what with my 150-mile commute to work), so we took a leave of absence. But now we're helping out in other ways -- fostering kitties, taking dogs home for "sleepovers" (you pick a dog up on Sunday night when they close and bring it back Tuesday morning when they open again, to give the dog some socialization, family time, all that), helping out at events like showing potential adoptees at PetSmart and so on. It's fun and I recommend it, especially if you like animals but can't have one permanently.

We've had kittens before, but they were skittish and hissy and not fond of being held. Buttercup is completely different -- totally people focused, loves to be with you (her favorite spot is on the keyboard of my laptop -- while I'm trying to use it), is extremely funny, sleeps all night quietly in her crate -- she is just adorable. I may have a hard time giving this one up . . . You'll notice on this one that she has a scrape on her nose -- she came that way! It didn't happen on our watch. I tidied her up in Photoshop for the portrait.

As a lover of these little fur balls, myself, I have to say that Buttercup is adorable! Great processing on this image of her, too! And, kudos to you for being a foster family for those sweet animals!! I can only imagine how attached you would get, and how hard it would be to give them up, though! We have two ... one cat, about 8 years old now, that we adopted from Pet Smart, and one who just showed up on our doorstep about 3 years ago as a kitten. We've grown quite attached, and so have they. I couldn't imagine life without them! Have a great weekend!

The top photo is a champ. Wonderful treatment of texture. Did the book-like vertical stripe and corners come with the texture template? This would make a great journal cover. Hmm, wouldn't that make a nice fundraising item at your animal shelter?

Thanks so much, everyone -- Dutchbaby, the wood in the picture is a lamp she was sitting next to -- it has a goldeny bit of stained glass in front of the nightlight, which is where the yellowish light on the left came from. I guess I could have cropped it out, but I liked it.

I just had to come over and find out more about this sweet little kitten. I love your portrait of her.

I think it is great that you volunteer with your local animal shelter. I don't volunteer for our shelter but for an organization that works out of the shelter. It is called The Cat Management Coalition. It's purpose is the trap/neuter/return feral cats to reduce the population in our area.

I also have six older kittens that turned up in my yard, I got to practice my trapping skills on them. Now they live in our yard and but are still semi-wild.

Oh how precious! I don't know that I could be a Foster Mommy for a Child or Fur Baby, I would become too attached and then it would be difficult to let them go to their new Homes...

Thanks for your words of encouragement to my Rant Post, I Pray things go more smoothly for you too... puberty can be a particularly tough Season to navigate while dealing with young people, so many changes going on with them transitioning to adulthood. My Mantra has always tried to be not to become so old that I forget what it was like to be young. *Winks* Yes, I agree, this too shall pass... *smiles*

Who's Talking to You?

Elise Ann Wormuth

I am a retired college English professor who has reinvented herself as a fine art photographer, watercolor painter, and genealogist (among other things). I've spent my working life teaching other people to write, and now I will take some time to get back to writing myself.